Created in collaboration with Sonuscore, Native Instruments’ Symphony Series – Percussion offers the range and playability to meet the needs of any orchestral production task.

With diverse articulations, detailed mix options, and unique drum head resonance simulation for advanced realism, Percussion is ideal for orchestral scoring, and equally well-suited to pop and electronic productions.

With an exhaustive set of 55 orchestral percussion instruments, recorded at Studio 22, Budapest, Percussion offers superb balance between precision and ambience.

With a wide range of both classic and exotic percussive instruments, diverse articulations and powerful drum head resonance simulation, Percussion is the definitive set of orchestral rhythm tools. An ultra-detailed spot microphone for transient detail adds to four distinct room mixes, providing the depth and versatility to work with any composition and genre.

Percussion is available in full Symphony Series version or streamlined Symphony Essentials version.

IK Multimedia has released as teaser trailer of a brand new all-in-one music production station, which will be unveiled in full at the end of the month.

The 40 second trailer doesn’t reveal much, but what we do know is that IK’s promises of “going anywhere you want” and “a whole new meaning of plug and play” suggest the new device will be highly compact and portable.

That’s pretty much all we know right now. But the product is due for an official unveiling on August 24th, so check back for an update then.

DigiTech by HARMAN’s new SDRUM Strummable Drums pedal is now available from UK distributor Sound Technology.

The DigiTech SDRUM claims to be the world’s first intelligent drum machine for guitarists and bassists, enabling musicians to simply strum their guitar strings to teach the SDRUM a kick and snare pattern that forms the foundation of the beat they want to hear.

Based on this pattern, the SDRUM supplies a professional sounding drumbeat with different embellishments and variations to perfectly complement the beat.

“Gone are the days of having your creative flow disrupted by searching through lists in a frustrating attempt to find the beat you want,” said DigiTech.

The SDRUM stores up to 36 different songs. Beats are played from a choice of five different kits covering a wide range of genres. The pedal also supports three different parts (e.g. verse/chorus/bridge) for each song that can be switched on the fly for enhancing live performances and exploring song ideas.

Other features include 12 different hats/rides styles, alternate instruments/voicings, dedicated Amp and stereo Mixer outputs, kick/snare pads for tapping in a beat, external FS3X support, and JamSync connectivity for interfacing with JamMan loopers.

Check out the video below demonstrating in more detail how the SDRUM pedal works:

The DigiTech SDRUM Strummable Drums pedal is available now priced at £189 RRP.

DigiTech by HARMAN is distributed in the UK and ROI by Sound Technology.

A year ago, MI Pro spoke to composer, arranger and musician Hannah Peel about her second studio album, Awake But Always Dreaming, which focused on her experience with her grandmother, who had fallen into dementia.

The very personal record threw the listener into the mind of a dementia sufferer, following a path from the formation of memories to the frightening darkness of what it’s like to fall victim to the disease.

Almost exactly one year later, and I’m back at Hannah’s Shoreditch studio to chat about her follow-up record Mary Casio: Journey To Cassiopeia.

It started off as an amusing mess about in the studio – designed to take her mind off the sometimes overwhelming work she was doing on Awake... – but Hannah soon realised that there was something more to this Mary Casio alter-ego. During and after the release of Awake..., she spent a lot of time learning about the mind, and it was during one visit to Alzheimer’s Research UK that she realised the connection between the brain and the space-inspired sounds of Mary Casio.

“I saw all the cells growing in petri dishes and what I couldn’t get over was the fact that when you looked through the microscope, it looked like the universe. It was incredible seeing the stars and the way everything connects and I just kept that in my mind, how incredible it was. The pictures that I took through the microscope looked like the moon,” Hannah tells me with wide eyes.

“I didn’t really know where I was going but I knew that was amazing, and it really started to let me question and read more books and articles on how we are connected to the stars and how we were connected to every single cell and protein out there. We’re all made of the same stuff.

She became this character for me to be able to explore further and explore going and imagining someone else’s mind going in to space and what that meant.

“Because it was brain neurons it made me think further about this character, Mary Casio. At first it was just something fun that I played around with to actually take my mind away from Awake…, getting the Casio keyboard out, putting my glasses on and just playing with the tango and waltz beats and making these funny little tunes as just something to skip around the studio to.

“I never thought it would turn into something a lot deeper. She became this character for me to be able to explore further and explore going and imagining someone else’s mind going in to space and what that meant.”

Musically, how did these “funny little tunes”, when listened back to in their final form on the record, turn into an intriguing concept album full of swelling and emotive brass, impressive story-telling synthesizer dialog, and the feeling of travelling off into another world?

“I improvised a four-minute track, just arpeggiated chords following a sequence completely off the cuff and I thought “ah, that was really good”. I pressed stop, muted it, went to the next track down on Logic and did the same process, playing something different and never thought anything of it,” explains Hannah.

“Halfway through the piece, I was playing so hard that they keyboard fell off the stand and I had my hand on the bottom end of the keyboard and I lifted it back up and carried on, still recording. I did another one of those using ambient type chords and then sort of forgot about it.

“I took it away to Ireland, sat on holiday with my headphones and laptop. I un-muted the top two tracks and they fitted together magically. I couldn’t believe it. And that’s the first track on the record.”

She reveals that that’s the moment she realised these tunes were not just for her Casio keyboard – the instrument that she used to play about with those beats and draw inspiration for the project’s name.

“The ambient track I’d made ended up becoming the second track on the record. I didn’t plan on making a record, but when I got back from that holiday I decided that every time I went in the studio I would improvise another track on a different synth. I used a Minimoog and a Korg Mono/Poly."

I was like “damn”, because this broken synth was the one that I picked so I had to stick with it.

In another twist of fate, Hannah tells me how the Mono/Poly was actually half broken, but she’d picked up a Brian Eno strategy card (designed by the electronic pioneer to help musicians get over creative blocks) that said something along the lines of: “Use the instrument you wouldn’t normally use”.

“I was like “damn”, because this broken synth was the one that I picked so I had to stick with it,” laughs Hannah. “I could just about get these beautiful harmonics out of it, so I used that for a track and I could get a couple of bass notes and throbbing sounds, and that made the entirety of track 5 on the record. In the background I just had the Apollo mission from YouTube playing on a loop and it just fitted perfectly. It was all done within two or three hours of improvising.”

Seeing as that was working so well, she took that approach to the rest of the album. “No overthinking. No lyrics. I didn’t want to sing. I didn’t want to put pressure on myself to write something for radio or anything else. That’s how it all came into being.

“Eventually it became this journey. It was all synthesizers and found sounds. For example, track one had some bells I recording while walking down the street in L.A. I just recorded it because I thought it sounded really nice.”

So, what does an experienced composer with a penchant for using unfamiliar processes use for recording found sounds? A trusty iPhone, of course.

“iPhone voice memos all the way! You get this wonderful compression from it that you don’t get from anything else,” she enthuses.

“I do have a Zoom microphone and I’ve used that quite a lot. But when you’re in the moment, you’ve just got to grab it, and part of using found sounds for me is that the first track represents leaving Earth and with those sounds you can hear a bit of Earth, a bit of traffic, a bit of music. It was just important to go from there.”

Without a doubt, I would not be doing what I’m doing without my music lessons at school.

Speaking about the atmosphere of the record, Hannah reveals how she envisions Mary Casio’s journey to be, or rather, how she hopes it will be interpreted in many other ways.

“Any sounds that I’ve used have just been because I’ve wanted to create an atmosphere and a sense of not being quite real. And part of that is because of the journey in Mary’s mind. Does she really go to the Cassiopeia constellation or is she sat in a chair and daydreaming? Is she passing into another realm? Did she get to the planet, or just got “somewhere”?

“All the wind and rain on that last track, The Planet of Passed Souls, was recorded from my caravan on that first holiday in Ireland. The wind and rain whacking against the sides sounds like Earth, but not quite.”

When listening to the track you can hear wind, rain, voices and what feels like memories seeping out of Mary’s mind. “I think of it as any person that would step on that “planet” would have this affect of their past coming through to them,” muses Hannah.

As well has her synthesizer patterns and meticulously placed collection of found sounds, Mary Casio: Journey To Cassiopeia features outstanding brass arrangements. Keen to give the record a ‘living’ feel, the brass was recorded live at Real World Studios.

“We went to Yorkshire, Barnsley, and two engineers from Real World brought all of Peter Gabriel’s mics, a beautiful, big SSL desk and we set up in the theatre and recorded it live.

“I think we did two takes of each track. It was old school, putting it down on the record. Any breath, squeak of the shoe, turn of the page, was kept – no editing on that side of things. I wanted it to sound real.

“Went we came to mixing it we had the synths one side and the brass on the other side of the desk, and we played the desk live, like you would have done years ago. So when there were parts that were swelling, they’d swell on the desk, giving it a really “live” feel.”

Hannah has a special connection to brass bands. When she moved to Yorkshire as a child, she says she was handed a violin and given lessons at school, followed by a cornet, with lessons at her performing arts centre. “I then joined a brass band that was in the local centre of music. You could hire those instruments really cheaply, and all the kids did it after school, and at weekends we would do concerts.

“There was a real initiative in Yorkshire at the time to keep the brass band tradition going. National Lottery funded our brass brand from when I was the age of 8 to 14. My secondary school was also very good for music. We had bands and musicals all the time.”

With the recent issues surround school budgets and educational funding cuts – especially for the arts – I ask Hannah how important all of that early musical encouragement was to her career.

“Without a doubt, I would not be doing what I’m doing without my music lessons at school. Not only does learning an instrument help with your language, and reading what is essentially another language, but your movements, your social interaction with the people around you, how you collaborate and talk to people.”

She has also seen the impact a lack of funding has had on the very area she grew up in. “Since I was at school there, that’s all gone and that music centre has been closed.

“There’s no way my parents would have been able to fund paying for music lessons. But with that opportunity, I learnt piano, violin and trombone in the end. There is not way I could have done that. I feel lucky that I had that experience and if I have kids, I will make damn sure they have that experience too.

As we wrap up our time together, I ask Hannah what scientific field she might be eyeing up for her next project.

“I have no idea! I’m not interested in telling a story about things that I’ve gone through in a way that every single song seems to be about – a break up song or whatever, I’d rather put a story to it and part of my way of getting over grief or a relationship is to put it into music and into stories.

“I’ve always been interested in space and I’ve always liked looking at stars and I know certain constellations, but I wouldn’t know anything more than that. Really it’s been a discovery for me.

We should be able to dream at any age.

“I has a really wonderful conversation with the head of the observatory in Greenwich about how the brain is linked to outer space and the fact that out of all our discoveries and years of trying to find other life, our greatest discovery is our brain and we still don’t know how it works and we still don’t have cures for diseases and we still don’t understand how we can dream and think and memorise.

“One of the scary things about dementia is that when the brain is being eaten away from the outside in, all these things start to happen – hallucinations, movements, memory – all these things come from parts of the brain that you don’t think you’re tapped in to, but you are.

“It’s something we still don’t understand and I think that’s fascinating. I think that if I go any further, it will be more to delve into that world. More of the ‘down-the-rabbit-hole’ world.

“In my mind it’s a complete imaginary journey, and, why not? We should be able to dream at any age.”

Hannah Peel will be performing Mary Casio: Journey To Cassiopeia with a full brass band at a number of dates around the UK for the rest of the year. Check out the full listings here.

She will also be supporting Alison Moyet throughout November with material from Awake But Always Dreaming.

Check out the video for Sunrise Through the Dusty Nebula below and look out for Mary Casio when the album drops on 22nd September.

D’Addario has announced the formation of D’Addario Europe Ltd – a brand new initiative to help the company maintain greater consistency and control of its brand portfolio in Europe.

The new venture will also present the opportunity to get closer to customers on all levels to help D’Addario increase international market share for all of its brands.

Through regional sales and marketing offices based in Germany and France, D'Addario will offer initiatives in Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Austria. The head office, and logistics operations will be based in Newcastle, UK.

This new distribution strategy was borne out of the need to consolidate sales and marketing efforts in each target market under D’Addario control, and the process of organising a smooth transition during 2018 has begun.

“D’Addario will be forever grateful to our present distribution partners in these countries,” said the firm.

The new company will be headed by Simon Turnbull, currently the managing director of D’Addario UK, along with his management team of Martin Reichhart (European sales manager), Matt Hickman (European marketing manager), and Steve Paul (European finance manager) at the D’Addario Europe head office in Newcastle.

“We are very excited by the creation of D’Addario Europe and we look forward to advancing our brands in these extremely vital markets,” said John D’Addario, III, president of D’Addario & Company, Inc.

“Our family began string making in Europe, so it is personally meaningful to return to Europe with the promise of building more direct relationships with this historic and vibrant music community.”

The recruitment process to prepare and build D’Addario’s European teams has begun. For more information visit: daddario.com/jobs.

Plugin Alliance has announced the availability of Stage – new software from fiedler audio that utilises sophisticated spatial processing techniques to take a good mix or master and make it better.

By using sophisticated stereo panning, delay lines, and phase modulation, Stage smoothly serves up what would otherwise require routing schemes of a complex nature and multiple plugins to achieve.

As such, Stage waves goodbye to copying tracks and setting up the Haas effect delay – when a sound is followed by another sound separated by a sufficiently short time delay (below the listener’s echo threshold) – or panning stereo tracks within a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) while using another plugin to control stereo width.

“By bringing these tried and tested techniques under one virtual roof, stage enables efficient stereo workflow with maximum flexibility and accuracy… all of which yield greater perceived width with new levels of musical clarity,” says the makers of Stage.

“With Stage, stereo imaging is fatter without sacrificing dynamic range, and individual tracks can be positioned with extreme precision — perfect for instantly intensifying substance and adding tactility to the user’s sound.”

Stage is available for purchase – as an AU-, VST2-, and VST3-supporting plugin for Mac OS X, Windows, and Pro Tools – exclusively from Plugin Alliance for an introductory promo price of $99 until August 31, 2017, rising to $179 thereafter.

The latest BRC-Springboard Footfall and vacancies monitor has revealed another slow month for UK retail footfall.

The monitor shows that most shopping destinations saw a decline in July, falling -1.1% against the previous year, below the 3 month rolling average of -0.4% and the 12 month of -0.2% respectively.

High streets saw a -2.1% decline and shopping centres reported a -1.3% decline. In fact, it was the fourth consecutive month of footfall decline in shopping centres.

However there was some hope, as retail parks saw 1.7% growth.

“Most shopping destinations saw a decline in footfall in July compared with the previous year. Even high streets, which have seen fairly stable growth over recent months, reported a decline. Retail parks were the exception and have fared relatively well since March this year reflecting in part lower rental costs compared to prime and town centre locations as well as convenience for shoppers,” said Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of BRC.

“The overall decline in footfall translated into weak sales performance for stores in non-food particularly, which fell further into negative territory as consumers rein back spending on non-essential items.

“The vacancy rate, now at its highest for a year, fails to brighten the picture for what was evidently a challenging month for retailers. Nearly one in 10 retail shops currently lie vacant and those in some vulnerable communities remain persistently empty, limiting the chances of these places to thrive. What’s more, September’s RPI which is expected to be in the region of four per cent, represents a substantial increase in business rates for retailers in April 2018.

“So Government’s commitment to switch to CPI indexation should really be brought forward from 2020.”

Recorded in 11.1 immersive sound at the famous Galaxy Studios in Belgium, and engineered by George Massenburg (audio pioneer, engineer and inventor of the parametric EQ), Drummer 3 will be released worldwide on 12th September.

Promising to be the most advanced drum software in the world, Massenburg said this of the new offering: “Superior Drummer 3 takes music creation to a level of quality, flexibility and authenticity beyond the imagination.”

Features include:

– TRACKER - Arguably the most efficient and accurate audio to MIDI conversion software on the market, Superior Drummer 3’s new integrated Tracker software means replacing or augmenting drums has never been more powerful.

– GROOVES - Build full drum tracks right inside the program. From quickly getting a custom beat going to diving deep into fine-tuning timing and velocity details, Superior Drummer 3 has got you covered with new and improved features for finding, customising and working with MIDI.

“Superior Drummer 3 is more than just a drum sampler – it’s a bottomless well of creativity. It bridges the gap between acoustic and electronic and lets you venture off into completely new sonic landscapes. To me, this is the definitive tool for percussive sound design,” said Mattias Eklund, Toontrack’s head of sound design.

Superior Drummer 3 will be available as a download from 12th September and can be pre-ordered now from Time+Space and authorised dealers with an SRP of £287.

Several music instrument industry leaders — including Cathy Duncan of Seymour Duncan, Jon Haber of Alto Music, Tony Agnello of Eventide, and Dave Fruehling of Strymon — also participated.

“We’re not just helping people buy and sell music gear, we’re helping mom-and-pop shops keep the doors open, empowering working musicians to gain extra income and affordable gear, and even putting artists’ gear into the hands of their fans,” said Reverb Co-Founder and CEO David Kalt.

“Our momentum is undeniable — particularly as we continue to expand globally — and we’re overwhelmed by the excitement we’ve received from new and existing investors who want to support and be part of what’s next.”

Since launching in 2013, Reverb.com has grown into what it claims is “the most popular music gear website in the world”, with sales expected to reach $429 million this year and more than 10 million musicians and music lovers visiting the site monthly.

Last year, Reverb increased international users by 700%, grew international sales by 150%, and hired on-the-ground team members in the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and more. According to Kalt, the company will use the additional funds to support continued international expansion, including additional personnel, tools, and technology.

“As a regular user of Reverb.com, I am witnessing first-hand the positive impact that the company is having on musicians and the way instruments are bought and sold,” said Shutterstock’s Jon Oringer. “I’m excited to support not only a successful marketplace - as that business model has proven itself powerful - but a company that’s uplifting an entire industry.”

This announcement comes on the heels of Reverb’s introduction of Reverb LP, a new marketplace for buying and selling vinyl records and other physical music formats online.

Reverb also recently announced that it will sell iconic guitars, amps, and more used in the studio and on tour by Billy Corgan. The Official Billy Corgan Reverb Shop has gone live today (August 16th).

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash has been named as Gibson’s first ever Global Brand Ambassador.

As part of the new role, Slash will be working with the guitar maker to develop new products for its Gibson, Custom and Epiphone ranges.

"It's an honour to be Gibson's first Global Brand Ambassador," Slash said. "I've been working with Gibson since the early days of my professional career and playing Gibson guitars since before that. I'm proud of the creative relationship we've developed over the years."

Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Brands, added: "We are thrilled to recognise Slash as Gibson's first Global Brand Ambassador. Slash embodies the characteristics of creativity, passion and excellence that are so closely aligned with Gibson and we are very proud of the friendship and mutual success we have shared together for over 30 years.

“We are also very excited about the future products we will be announcing soon."

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist has expressed his views on the current threat musical education programs in public schools are facing in the US, calling it “child abuse” and “just wrong”.

Talking to Rolling Stone, Flea described how there were barely any instruments in the music rooms when he went to visit his old high school.

"They had maybe one or two acoustic guitars, a boombox, a volunteer teacher, and they were sitting around talking about music,” said the world-renowned bassist. “I was so disheartened. I was like, 'Where's the orchestra? Where's the band?' And I was told they cut out all the funding for that stuff. They didn't have instruments for the teachers anymore. It really shocked me."

The school has expanded from a small storefront into a new space in the Los Angeles neighbourhood last year.

The school will be hosting its annual fundraising show at its new space on September 9th featuring an art auction with works by Thomas Houseago, Alison Mosshart, Shepard Fairey, Ed Ruscha and Jonas Wood, and performances by Randy Newman, Anderson .Paak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

"We play it almost every year," Flea told Rolling Stone. "This year we're going to play acoustic and we're going to be joined by the children's choir from the school."

The fundraising has helped the school move into the new space, which houses 12 private lesson rooms, four classrooms and a performance space.

“We have about 800 kids that come through. Everyone that comes will be able to see the school, get a feel for what's going on and be a part of it,” said the bassist.

Flea also spoke about the Trump administration and its proposed cuts to arts funding. "I worry about a lot of things that that guy says, but that affects my worldview personally," he said. "It's not just music, but the arts in general – wanting to cut the NEA.

"I encourage everybody to reach out into the communities they live in and do what they can to help out. There are people that don't have money, people that don't have food or an education or healthcare,” pleaded Flea. “And yes, getting to change things on a fundamental, institutional level is an awesome thing, but we can personally reach out in our communities to do stuff that is profoundly helpful."

Yamaha has announced the return of its hugely popular Piano Upgrade Promotion.

This year’s campaign promises Yamaha’s best ever part-exchange deal with customers being offered an even more affordable route to owning a new Yamaha Silent or TransAcoustic piano.

Launching on September 1st, this year’s Pan-European campaign gives customers the opportunity to trade in any 88-key digital or acoustic piano and receive Yamaha’s best ever guaranteed upgrade price, which combines with any additional part-exchange value offered by participating dealers.

The promotion will be supported by a wide-ranging online, print advertising and PR campaign backed by new in-store point of sale materials and press support promoting the affordability of new Yamaha piano ownership.

“This year’s Upgrade promotion offers our best value ever, and as we’re seeing a massive increase in interest in Silent Technology we have focused on Silent and TransAcoustic instruments, one of our biggest growth sectors,” said Yamaha’s Leanne Barrell.

“Yamaha Pianos are the only pianos to have been awarded the prestigious International ‘Quiet Mark’ which highlights the world’s best Quiet Technology products and drives new interest in wider consumer media.”

Don’t miss out on what promises to be a successful campaign and speak to your Yamaha sales representative today.

The campaign represents the coming together of more than 30,000 artists and musicians from across the memberships of both organisations.

“It must be difficult for politicians to understand the daily reality of a creative professional. What they won’t realise is that any barrier to movement, however small, will have a direct impact on the working lives of creative people, and the reputation and finances of our nation,” said Michael Smith, founding director of Cog Design.

“As an agency that works exclusively in the cultural and creative sectors we are well placed to see the impact that even perceived, potential hurdles are already having. We are delighted to support such an important campaign by donating our time and expertise.”

Deborah Annetts, chief executive of ISM, commented: “For designers, like musicians and artists, flexible travel across the EU plays is vital. We are so grateful to the award-winning Cog Design for their support, and for donating their time and expertise to give the #FreeMoveCreate campaign these amazing logos.

“Working with our campaign partners at a-n The Artists Information Company, we must make sure the voices of every artist – whether they are a musician, artist, designer, filmmaker, designer, techie or involved in the creative industries in some way – is heard within the Brexit negotiations. We urge everyone who cares about the future of creativity to sign up to #FreeMoveCreate at freemovecreate.org.”

Jeanie Scott, director of a-n The Artists Information Company, added: “Many thanks to Cog Design for creating such vibrant logos to match our exciting campaign yet vital campaign with the ISM. An open, stable market place is important to all artists to ensure they can afford the costs of making, selling and distributing their work in the UK and beyond. We must make sure our artists’ growing concerns, are heard within the many Brexit discussions and negotiations that will take place over the coming months.

“There are of course, concerns from all creative disciplines and across many artforms – which is why #FreeMoveCreate will work to make sure our largely self-employed artist communities across the UK can engage with and contribute to the campaign.”

Since its launch in 2000, Daisy Rock Girl Guitars has created numerous guitars and basses specifically for women, making instruments with a look and feel that appeals to young girls as well as helping them play more comfortably.

Over the years, Daisy Rock has produced a number of signature models by influential female musicians, including The Bangles’ guitarist Vicki Peterson, the ‘Queen of Rockabilly’ Wanda Jackson, and Sugarland bassist Annie Clements.

With such a long history of making instrument’s for women and teaming up with renowned female players, Daisy Rock founder Tish Ciravolo was understandably disappointed by a recent VICE interview with artist St Vincent (guitarist Annie Clark), which claimed that with the release of her new Ernie Ball signature guitar model, Clark was the “first woman ever to create her own electric guitar for the mass market”.

After Ciravolo spoke out, asking for the industry to “give credit where credit is earned”, MI Pro decided to catch up with the guitar-maker herself to find out more about Daisy Rock’s history, how its guitars are designed for women, and why it’s so important that young girls have female role models in music…

Tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into the industry.

I played in a lot of bands in the '80s and '90s. And I worked a gazillion jobs to support my music career. When I first started Daisy Rock Girl Guitars, no one thought a girl guitar company would work because they didn’t think that young girls wanted to learn how to play more than air guitar. So I had the opportunity to launch my company at the Rockrgrl Conference in Seattle, Washington in October 2000. I had given birth to my second daughter in March. I had five samples shipped to the show, put up my first pipe and drape display and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

I asked Courtney Love at the closing ceremonies to sign my first Daisy Rock sample and today, that guitar hangs in the NAMM Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad as an innovation to the guitar industry.

When I was leaving the conference, I decided to fly back with the two signed samples and ship the other three guitars back… they never arrived. When I called the hotel, they watched the security tape and discovered they had two hotel employees steal the three guitars out the back door through a laundry basket. They fired the two employees and the three guitars were never located. So, my first thought was if someone was willing to lose their jobs over stealing my product, I must have created something amazing!

The following January, in 2001, I displayed the guitars at my first NAMM show. Over 1,000 people came by my booth and all the guys would say something like, “this will never work” and then they would be back in my booth with their wife, or girlfriend or whatever giving me an order.

I asked Courtney Love to sign my first Daisy Rock sample and today, that guitar hangs in the NAMM Museum as an innovation to the guitar industry.

Tish Ciravolo, Daisy Rock Girl Guitars

I heard the word “cute” about a 1,000 times that weekend. But, I did sell my guitars in the beginning on consignment with the condition that it would go into a music store window. If it did not attract attention or get a new customer for the store owner, I would take the guitar back, free of charge. I NEVER had to take a single guitar back, and I sold out of all my stock.

Did you always set out to make guitars specifically for women?

When I started playing bass, the first bass I bought was at a guitar store on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, CA. My boyfriend and I entered the store and the salesman decided what bass I should play… after consulting with my boyfriend, not me. This was because very, very few females went into music stores to buy basses in the early ‘80s. It just didn’t happen.

So, I took the bass home, tried to play it and took it back the next day. It felt like a baseball bat in my hands. I proceeded to play every single bass in the store until I could find something comfortable. All of them were so heavy to hold and the necks were so thick. Fast-forward 10 years and my husband, Michael Ciravolo, who is the president of Schecter Guitars, makes me a bass with a slimmer neck and lighter weight. I could really play that bass comfortably. So I had endured this problem that every female had dealt with that wanted to play guitar since its invention: How to find something that was comfortable to play for a woman.

A couple more years and my daughter, Nicole, is 1 ½ years old and does a drawing of a daisy…. I drew a neck and a headstock in the shape of a leaf on the picture. I showed it to my husband and we talked about how we should make guitars for girls, for little girls, that would be easier to play and fun to play. And they should be lighter in weight. That way, we would answer all the problems I had dealt with as a player.

The Daisy Rock Candy Classic

So we designed the first Daisy Rock Guitars. The Daisy Rock in Peppermint Pink was the first guitar that matched Nicole’s drawing. And I wrote the first mission statement for Daisy Rock Guitars: Doing whatever it takes to get more girls to learn how to play guitar and enjoy music.

How important is it for young women to have access to instruments designed with them in mind?

I think it’s the most important thing to help a girl or women over that first hump of how to play a guitar. And having a guitar designed to be easier to play helps them.

With regards to the VICE/St Vincent comments, do you think this was simply someone not doing their research or have you found female-led companies in this industry tend to be overlooked more often?

I don't think VICE did their research, but I KNOW that female-led companies are always overlooked in our industry.

Do you have any new gear you’d like to tell us about?

We have our amazing Rock Candy Classic models coming out of KMC Music for distribution, which means we have guitars in stock right now! I am so excited!

In the UK, we’ve seen more and more supermarkets starting to sell cheap musical instruments, the most recent one being Aldi. How does this affected businesses like Daisy Rock?

I think when places like Target and Toys R Us etc jump on the bandwagon, it just increases the consumer interest to buy a real instrument from a music dealer.

What’s next for yourself and Daisy Rock?

I am writing an autobiography about Daisy Rock Guitars, which I hope to have out next year! And look for us at NAMM 2018 to check out some super cool designs you have never seen before!

Professional and consumer audio manufacturer Flare Audio has named former Bose financial controller Simon Mighall as its new chief financial officer (CFO).

Mighall’s role will include putting in place financial systems enabling Flare to “grow seamlessly and realise its potential to rival the world’s major audio brands”, supplying high-end professional and consumer audio products globally.

Flare’s loudspeakers use the company’s own patented Waveform Integrity Technology to deliver a “pure sound almost indistinguishable from that made by the performers on stage or in the studio”, while, last year, its revolutionary Isolate ear defenders raised nearly £2.25m on crowdfunding websites.

“Prior to joining Flare, Simon Mighall spent 20 years at the UK subsidiary of Bose Corporation, whose turnover in this country went from less than £3m to over £100m during his tenure,” said Flare founder and CEO Davies Roberts.

“Simon’s deep functional expertise, ownership, tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit position him well for life at Flare.”

Mighall commented: “Flare Audio exudes excitement and enthusiasm. When I met Davies and the other directors, I caught the bug. This company is destined for great things and I have an amazing opportunity joining Flare at such an early stage.

“When I joined Bose, it was similar in turnover to Flare’s today. Having been through a steep growth path with a company before, I understand the challenges Flare will face. Everything we put in place today has to be scalable for the future because that turnover is only going in one direction, upward.”

John Banerjee, chairman of Flare Audio, added: “Simon will be instrumental in driving the commercialisation of Flare’s considerable body of Intellectual Property via new and exciting products in both Consumer and Pro-Audio markets, in alignment with Flare’s long-term strategy.”

Acoustic guitar brand Tanglewood flew over 10,000 miles from London last weekend to the Melbourne Guitar Show, held in the city at Caulfield Racecourse, to showcase its gear in a joint booth with string partner Elixir.

Tanglewood’s distribution partner National Music exhibited a full series lineup of instruments, giving visitor’s an exclusive world-first look at the new Polynesian inspired Tiare ukuleles – a brand new range of arched-back, pro-spec instruments in all popular size and feature formats.

Consumer demand for the Tiare range post-show has resulted in the first August container selling out before it even hit Australia.

UK retailers will receive their first Tiare deliveries at the end of September.

As part of the main show event, top artists took part in a documentary premiere called Acoustic Uprising, and one key player, Van Larkins, was so impressed with the new Tanglewood Sundance Performance Pro X15SDTE model that he played all his show performances with the guitar.

Van Larkins, who is originally from Brisbane Queensland, is tipped to be a new world guitar star. Phil Emmanuel from Australian Guitar describes him as a musician who “creates a beautiful musical soundscapes”.

“We're very proud he chose to perform with Sundance Performance Pro,” said Tanglewood.

Casio Music has unveiled four new models within its keyboard range: the LK-135, LK-265, CTK-1500 and CTK-3500.

All four models are available in stores now, and host an array of contemporary functions to enhance the playing experience, from app compatibility to Dance Music Mode.

Available on all the models is the Dance Music Mode, which allows beginners of all ages to use the keys to mix loops, drum patterns and effects together to create dance music tracks at the simple press of a key.

The Light Up Keys feature, available on the LK-135 and LK-265, is an innovative light-up key system that shows the player which notes to play.

The LK-265 and CTK-3500 are Chordana App compatible – a free music app that makes learning to play the keyboard fun by displaying notes graphically in real time within a piano roll window on your chosen tablet.

“We’re excited to unveil the latest additions to our keyboard range which we believe will ignite the passion of the budding musician,” said Neil Evans, divisional manager at Casio Music UK.

“The new models feature some innovative functionality such as the Chordana Play App, which all beginners will no doubt benefit from. At Casio Music, we are proud to offer our customers innovative instruments at affordable prices.”

The LK-135, LK-265, CTK-1500 and CTK-3500 are available at selected stores now.

Percussion instrument maker Terré has launched a brand new online shop to make it easer for customers and dealers to purchase its products.

“Step in into the world of percussive musical instruments in an unprecedented variety,” said Terré. "We are looking forward to you!”

MI Pro stopped by Terré’s stand at this year’s Musikmesse, where the makers were demonstrating the new hamgam drum, which features seven Pads, including one Bass-Pad, one Snare and five more Percussion-Pads.

The unique instrument offers a lot of possibilities, with each of the seven pads being tuneable via magnets – creating endless variations of sounds.

The company is also asking customers to get in touch if they have any questions or suggestions about the new site. You can contact the team personally from Monday to Friday – 8am to 5pm at 0049-3741-595329-0.

Faith Guitars has launched new additions to its Classic Burst guitar series.

The UK acoustic brand has expanded the series to include its popular ‘Venus’ OM/Auditorium and ‘Neptune’ baby-jumbo acoustic shapes. Furthermore, Faith has announced the release of Classic Burst Mars and Mercury ‘E’ models featuring discreet Sonitone soundhole electronics from Fishman.

Using a combination of solid Red Cedar and Mahogany tonewoods with a deep-brown, red and amber three-tone burst finish, Faith Classic Burst guitars offer a warm and rich tone and exude an understated vintage vibe.

Their tonal personality is sure to appeal to fingerstyle and lighter-touch players that place an emphasis on each note projecting its unique harmonic character.

With the brand’s Mercury parlour and Mars drop-dreadnought shapes making up the series to date, the addition of the Venus and Neptune shapes represents Faith’s continued drive to listen to the demands of its customers.

Featuring cutaways and on-board Fishman INK3 electronics, the new Venus and Neptune models have been designed to be gig-ready and suitable for all playing styles. They are bound with Solid Macassan Ebony, and use the same high quality timber for the fingerboards, headplates, heelplates, bridges and bridge pins.

The release of the updated Classic Burst series comes off the back of a number of exciting new guitar launches that includes additions to Faith’s award-winning Naked and Blood Moon ranges over the last month.

Faith Classic Burst Venus and Neptune guitars are available in stores now, retailing at £939 and £949 respectively.

Is it the epitome of 80s cheese? Is it only ever used ironically? Is it actually a really cool piece of gear that deserves to be taken more seriously?

Whatever you think of the keytar, it’s certainly an interesting instrument, thus it deserves to be the focus of this month’s Anatomy of an Instrument.

What is a keytar?

A keytar is exactly what it sounds like – a guitar and keyboard hybrid. Typically, it features a lightweight electronic keyboard, with various controls placed on a guitar-esque ‘neck’. A strap is attacked to the instrument, so I can be worn in a similar fashion to a typical guitar.

The oldest forerunner of the keytar probably is the orphica, a small portable piano invented at Vienna in 1795, which was played in a similar position as the modern keytar.

In 1966, Swedish organ manufacturer Joh Mustad AB introduced the Tubon, an electric organ in the shape of a tube. It was used by the likes of Kraftwerk and Paul McCartney during the 60s and 70s.

In late 1970s and early 1980s, Jan Hammer, the composer best known for his composition and sound design successes for Miami Vice, frequently used several keytars including the Royalex PROBE, which he helped develop.

The term "keytar" is actually a slang word, with the style of keyboard was mostly being referred to by manufacturers as a "MIDI Controller", "Remote Keyboard", "Strap-on Keyboard" etc.

The Moog Liberation was released in 1980 by Moog Music, and was considered the first mass-produced strap synthesizer.

How do you play it and what does it sound like?

Designed to give keyboardist greater movement onstage, the instrument features a musical keyboard for triggering notes and sounds. Various controls are placed on the instrument's neck, enabling the player to manipulate pitch bends, vibrato, portamento, and sustain.

Here are some of our favourite keytar videos:

Why should I stock them?

The keytar is a great example of how technology can fuse instruments together to make an interesting new concept. It may not be the first instrument a young musician will be drawn to, but for those looking to explore and experiment beyond the staple band setup, the keytar is a great choice.

Despite its electronic roots, the keytar can be applied to various musical styles, with the likes of pop stars Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and Black Eyed Peas, as well as heavy rock outfits Dream Theater and Dragonforce, all using the unique instrument onstage.

Who makes them?

Here’s a selection of some of the most prominent manufacturers out there still making Keytar instruments:

Billed as the “world’s most advanced electric guitar”, the new line of Fusion Guitars have launched online.

Featuring a built-in amp, speakers and iPhone integration, the Fusion Guitar currently only available in the USA in two models: Maple and Rosewood.

“My life has been about music and my quest to create the ultimate electric guitar,” said Dave McAuld, creator of Fusion Guitars.

“We designed the Fusion Guitar to be the 21st century guitarists’ gateway to enjoyable musical expression anywhere and anytime. Combining the Fusion with iOS guitar apps unleashes amazing possibilities for learning, creating, performing and sharing music.”

Specs are as follows:

– Apple iPhone and iPod dock with 24-bit/96kHz audio interface

– Full-scale high quality maple neck with the option of rosewood or maple fingerboard

– Patented floating speaker box – a unique feature that allows the speaker to "float" in the guitar body on rubber mounts. This design reduces the amount of vibration transmission between the guitar body and speaker to avoid audio feedback and improve volume.

Active Music has predicted that the UK is in for an Indian Summer, so to celebrate the oncoming heat wave, the distributor has put together a special Alpine Indian Summer promotion for dealers.

“If you purchase a counter display which features all of Alpine’s best sellers, you will not only receive a 15% discount, but you will also qualify for some of the finest holiday merchandise including Beach balls, Sunglasses, Fidget Spinners and just in case, Rain Ponchos, we are in the UK after all,” said Active Music.

“The counter display contains the only earplugs on the market with a CE certification across the entire range.”

The promotion will contain the following top selling Alpine products:

Alpine MusicSafe Pro – the only hearing protection for musicians with three interchangeable filter sets for low, medium and high protection, available in three colours.

Alpine MusicSafe Classic – containing two different sets of music filters with outstanding sound characteristics with medium and high protection rates.

Alpine PartyPlugs – featuring high-quality, acoustic filters to reduce the volume of music to a safe level, while maintaining superior sound quality, available in three colours.

This week, budget supermarket Aldi made its first steps into the musical instrument market with an astonishingly cheap range of guitars, keyboards, ukuleles, stands and even music books.

The range went on sale yesterday (Thursday 10th), but many products were available to pre-order before hand, with reports that some instruments had already sold out online before Tuesday 8th.

The MI industry is no stranger to other types of retailers moving in to their territory. ASDA has a range of musical toys, Tesco and a surprisingly large offering of guitars, ukuleles, keyboards and accessories, and Lidl have been selling the odd instrument range here and there for years – and that's just the supermarkets.

While there has always been cheap MI gear, the astonishingly low prices in Aldi’s range may have some retailers worried. For example, it's selling ukuleles for £14.99, acoustic guitars (pictured) for just £34.99, and its range of books for learning how to play these instruments are a mere £2.99 each.

"It may get more people interacting with musical instruments and raise interest enough that they will look into it properly and get something better from their local music shop.”

Paul Hagen, Active Music Distribution

But should the industry be worried about not being able to match Aldi’s price points, or are there benefits to having these widely advertised cheap ranges that appeal largely to beginners and children?

Here’s what the industry really thinks about the news:

Paul Hagen, director of distributor Active Music Distribution “Lidl have been doing this for years - and I'd have thought that Aldi have also been doing it as well so don't see this as being anything new. Low cost instruments like this have been sold in Argos and the like for years so again nothing new. Shouldn't affect a proper music shop who can offer all the specialist customer service - but it may get more people interacting with musical instruments and raise interest enough that they will look into it properly and get something better from their local music shop.”

Richard Gaya, director of retailer Stompbox Ltd: “The customer who buys a musical instrument from Aldi is not usually the customer who would have bought from a guitar shop. Rather, Aldi may take sales away from Argos, Costco or Toys R Us etc. The fact that, with Aldi stocking and promoting instruments, there is more opportunity for people to start playing can only be a good thing; the concern is more around the quality of those instruments which, if too low, can make learning too difficult resulting in people thinking they are not good enough to carry on. I do not see Aldi's move into the musical instrument market as threatening. Indeed, knowing their business model, it will be a temporary move with non-food 'specials' usually on sale only for around a week.”

MI sales and marketing professinal Andy Haldane: "Any venture that encourages the mass market to adopt music over any other social pursuit is surely welcome. Yes, poor quality instruments are a real danger to the possibility of a person sticking with playing, but if even 2% of Aldi buyers continue then the MI industry will be better off as a result."

We should be encouraged that the hunger and desire of children and parents to bring musical instruments into their homes is obviously still there despite a background of funding cuts to school music provision.

Steven Greenall, Warwick Music Group

MI retail professional Nick Ioannou: “The low price point, in combination with Aldi's presence in the mass market, will make these budget instruments a no-brainer for shoppers thinking about getting into music for the first time. As Aldi are currently not stocking perishables such as guitar strings and cleaning products, shoppers will still have to go to a music retailer when in need of specialist advice or instrument maintenance.”

Mike Barnfield, managing director of retailer Mickleburgh: “I believe that non specialist shops selling cheap musical instruments increase the exposure of non players to the idea of playing, which can only be good for the industry as a whole. Our personal experience is that customers come to us in order to buy a better quality instrument, and expect to pay more for that quality – we sell very few cheap guitars at under £100.00 anyway, so Aldi is not likely to be a serious threat. They will however compete with anyone trying to sell cheap beginners’ products, which is most likely to be the big internet sellers, so good luck to them all!”

Steven Greenall, CEO of manufacturer Warwick Music Group: “We won’t see meaningful growth in the sales of professional level instruments without increasing the base of future musicians. In the “band and orchestra” space, what are the major manufacturers really doing to get children started buzzing or blowing? There remains a reliance on small businesses like Warwick Music Group on the brass side and Nuvo on the wind side to innovate products that teachers and parents can use with young children to create a musical experience, which is accessible, relevant and fun.

“We should be encouraged that the hunger and desire of children and parents to bring musical instruments into their homes is obviously still there despite a background of funding cuts to school music provision. Aldi aren’t selling musical instruments without assessing that the demand exists amongst its customers. We’re stuck in a paradigm which the music industry has to solve itself. We need to focus our passion on the base of the pyramid – how do we get as many children in the world to start an instrument, enjoy it and want to continue – that’s what keeps me awake at night.”

As the biggest MI trade publication in the UK, we believe that the more coverage and encouragement there is for musical instruments the better, and that there is room in the market for all price points.

The industry’s comments about the new player show a market that can take any situation and look for the positives, such as the fact that the people buying these cheap instruments aren’t typically going to be the ones walking into an independent guitar shop…yet.

While some MI publications have reported on the news as “yet another blow for an industry already struggling”, it’s refreshing to see that those who are running and working in the MI businesses see Aldi’s new musical instrument range for what it is: Cheap gear that will hopefully give a budding musicians the taste of creating music before it inevitably breaks, causing them to upgrade to a “proper” instrument from a more traditional MI retailer.

This biggest story by far this week has been the news that Gibson has accused Jam Industries USA of infringing on three of its guitar trademarks.

Gibson alleges that Jam has infringed the marks through the sale of its Hamer-branded guitars, including the ‘Explorer body shape design’ mark, the ‘Flying V body shape design’ mark, and the ‘Kramer peghead design’ mark.

According to Gibson, the trademarks’ use breaches licences signed by Jam’s predecessor, Kaman Music, in 1996. Jam purchased Kaman in 2015.

2. OPINION: Why we must all fight against the rockstar stereotypeFollowing the recent death of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, in her latest MI Pro column, radio presenter and DJ Rowena Lewis looks at how the idolised rock’n’roll image can act as a disguise – and excuse – for depressive male behaviour…

Pro audio plugin developer Brainworx has announced the availability of bx_console E.

Brainworx’s new flagship plugin pairs a 72-channel emulation of the high-end, hit-making British E Series console complete with comprehensive COMPRESS (compressor/limiter), full-featured EXPAND (expander/gate), powerful four-band parametric EQ, and wide-ranging (high pass and low pass) FILTERS, together with flexible signal routing (just like the original console), and more.

Exclusively available from Plugin Alliance, the bx_console E uses patent-pending TMT (Tolerance Modeling Technology) to simulate the channel-to-channel variances of the E Series’ electronic components on each and every instance of the plugin.

bx_console E enables users to instantly swap the original console’s EQ revisions, substitute the compressor’s VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) with that from the later-released British G Series console, and use contemporary Brainworx mods that greatly expand the functionality of the plugin way beyond what the original console is capable of.

In essence, engineers can create a dream hybrid mixing console with startling analog sound in the box by blending features of E and G Series consoles with modern functions from within the comfort of their DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).

With the click of a mouse, users can recall a different E Series channel on each instance of bx_console E instantiated in their project, instantly producing that mixed-on-a-large-format-analog-console sound that is still so highly sought after today. That said, on any given plugin instance, another mouse click (of the EQ TYPE button) is all it takes to swap models of the very different-sounding ‘black’ and ‘brown’ EQ revisions for the analog E Series console, either of which can be placed before (PRE) or after (EQ) bx_console E’s dynamics section, or routed to its dynamics sidechain (SC).

Further still, another mouse click substitutes a model of the pristine-sounding VCA from the later-released British G Series console’s compressor for the more colorful E Series VCA on any channel. Both COMPRESS (compressor/limiter) and EXPAND (expander/gate) can be triggered by another DAW track routed to their external sidechain input, producing keyed rhythm tracks, ducked guitar fills, and other sophisticated effects.

“It’s hard to describe the excitement of sitting at a real analog, large-format E Series console, comparing it to our bx_console E plugin emulating the exact same console, and not being able to tell the difference,” said Brainworx Owner Dirk Ulrich.

“Other emulations miss the most crucial part of what makes those big boards so desirable, which is the depth and width of the sound; you can only get that from many slightly different channels together, working their magic on the music.”

bx_console E is available for purchase — as an AAX Native & DSP-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-supporting plugin for Mac OS X, Windows, and Pro Tools — exclusively from Plugin Alliance for an introductory promo price of $179.00 until August 31st 2017, rising to $299.00 thereafter.